Spreadsheet applications provide many well known benefits including data organization, computation, analysis and presentation. Some popular spreadsheet applications provide users worksheets and shapesheets comprised of cells in which data may be entered, computed and related to data in other cells. For example, a spreadsheet worksheet may allow a user to enter and total sales figures. Mathematical formulas may be applied to spreadsheet cells to perform desired calculations on data contained in one or more cells. Spreadsheet application shapesheets allow users to create drawings, images, flowcharts and the like. In such shapesheets, data may be applied to cells comprising the shapesheet for controlling properties such as shape, width, height and the like.
In a typical spreadsheet engine operating such spreadsheet worksheets and shapesheets, there are often two or more cells that represent the same data. For example, a first cell may include a value represented in integer form (for example, number of units on hand). A second cell may represent the same data, but in percentage form (for example, percentage of total inventory). A third cell may have related data (for example, total number of units in inventory). In the context of a spreadsheet shapesheet, a first cell may have data representing the width of an image, while a second cell may have the same data expressed as a relationship of the width of the image to the width of text written on the image. In such situations, it would be desirable to allow a user to enter the value of the related cells in either form (e.g., integer or percentage) and have each cell reflect the change. Unfortunately, prior spreadsheet systems do not allow for the formulaic redirection and/or modification of formulas applied to one cell for affecting changes to another related cell during formula set operations.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and system for linking the contents of one spreadsheet cell to another spreadsheet cell so that changes in one cell are reflected in the linked cell. There is further a need for a method and system for linking the contents of one spreadsheet cell to another spreadsheet cell so that changes in one cell are reflected in the linked cell particularly where the contents of the two cells are the same quantity presented in different forms.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.